Rokka Magar, a newsreader for the Kham Magarlanguage service of Radio
Nepal, was abducted by Maoist rebels on August 1, 2002, while traveling
by bus to the town of Surkhet, where he worked. Rebels intercepted the
bus near Jaluki, a Maoist-controlled village near the borders of
Western Rolpa and Pyuthan districts, and kidnapped several passengers,
including Rokka Magar and a representative from the British charity
Gurkha Welfare Trust.
It was not clear why the Maoists targeted certain passengers, but
rebels generally view journalists working for state-run Radio Nepal as
government agents.
In October 2004, rebels informed Rokka Magar’s wife, Dil Kumari, that
he had been taken to Khawang, a forested area between Rukum and Rolpa
in midwestern Nepal, and killed in January 2003 on suspicion of spying
for the government, according to local news reports.
The news was first reported in the Nepalese media in March 2005. Rokka
Magar had been on CPJ’s missing list, but his case was reclassified
based on the new reports. The journalist’s body has not been found.